How Gandhi replaced Britain's monarchs in offices

October 2, 2012

Gandhi

Mumbai, October 2: For nearly two years after India became independent, pictures of the king and queen of Britain continued to adorn government offices and departments.

It was only from June 2, 1949 that the government of then Bombay state ordered all offices to replace the photographs of British colonial rulers with those of Mahatma Gandhi, who by then had been assassinated.

In keeping with the principles of austerity practiced by the Mahatma, old frames from the British photos were used to mount pictures of the Father of the Nation, according to archival material released by Raj Bhavan here Monday, the eve of Gandhi Jayanti.

"The photographs of their majesties ... should be carried to a remote place where the frame and glasses should be removed.

The frames and glasses which remain intact and neat and tidy should be used for framing Mahatma Gandhi's photographs," says the government resolution issued by the Political and Services Department of the government of Bombay.

The government record (GR) copies, issued by then chief secretary M.D. Bhat, were marked to the governor, premier of Bombay, the High Court, divisional commissioners, heads of government departments, ministers, collectors and chief administrators of Kolhapur and Sangli and special commissioner of Baroda.

"It is apparent from the GR and circular that the government advocated austerity while asking government departments to re-use the old photo frames in tune with the ideology of the new entrant to the photo frame, Mahatma Gandhi," a Raj Bhavan official said.

The resolution further said: "The actual material on which the photographs or portraits of the king and queen are photographed or portrayed should be stored in a safe place where there is no inflammable material nearby.

The question as to what should be done with the photographs without frames will be decided after three years."

The GR also specified the kinds of pictures the government had approved for use in various offices.

It had approved pictures received from three agencies - Rex Photo Studio, Bombay, bust size 16 inches by 22 inches; Vanguard Studio, Bombay, size 14 inches by 17 inches; Dandi Kuch upright position, and Associated Photo Service, Delhi, bust size with folded hands size 10 inches by 12 inches.

The interesting aspect was that the GR also specified which government office should use which particular photograph of Mahatma Gandhi.

Later, in another GR issued on Oct 14, 1949, the prices for the three types of pictures were also communicated.

The first one, without frame, was fixed at Rs.30, the second one at Rs.18 and the third at Rs.8 per copy.

Today, no government office in the country is complete without a photograph of Mahatma Gandhi, displayed in a prominent location in its premises.


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News Network
February 12,2020

New Delhi, Feb 12: Unidentified people opened fire at the convoy of the newly elected Aam Aadmi Party legislator Naresh Yadav in Southwest Delhi when he and his supporters were returning home after visiting a temple after his victory, killing a party volunteer, police and a senior AAP leader said.

The firing incident happened in Kishangarh village late Tuesday night.

Police said they have detained a person for questioning and the incident appears to be a case of personal enmity. Sources said seven rounds were fired at the MLA's convoy.

Another person injured in the incident has been admitted to a hospital.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh identified the dead party volunteer as Ashok Mann.

“Convoy of MLA Naresh Yadav attacked in Mehrauli, Ashok Mann killed. Naresh Yadav was returning home after visiting a temple,” Singh said in a tweet in Hindi.

“At least one volunteer has passed away due to bullet wounds. Another is injured,” AAP tweeted.

Ankit Lal, AAP's social media in-charge, added that miscreants in another car opened fire on the MLA's convoy near Fortis Hospital.

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News Network
April 9,2020

New Delhi, Apr 9: Kerala opposition coalition United Democratic Front on Thursday submitted a roadmap to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for staggered lifting of ongoing lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The coalition led by leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala has given a set of recommendations to Modi in this regard, which include those made by an expert committee headed by deputy leader of opposition M K Muneer.

The committee was set up to suggest measures to be taken by the government for smooth transition from lockdown to normalcy.

It listed an eight-point exit strategy for removing lockdown in a staggered approach at a district level, with emphasis on hotspots to avoid further spread of virus and ensure smooth restart of economy.

This approach is tuned to the unique needs of each district and all the districts should also be categorised as per their risk levels, the report said.

The report has also been submitted to chief ministers of all states, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi among others.

The committee recommended that COVID-19 rapid testing must be enhanced across the country and the testing target be widened to 500 tests per one lakh population.

"A step-by-step approach is necessary for each sector along with conditions that need to be considered for each sector," the report said.

"There is a need for a comprehensive economic stimulus package in addition to the ones already announced after considering all the industries," it added.

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News Network
February 9,2020

Mumbai, Feb 9: Given the slow progress on the ongoing Rs 38,000-crore capacity expansion at the four largest metro airports, and also the surging traffic, the snaky queues will continue at least till 2023, warns a report.

The four largest airports -- New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad -- handle more than half of the traffic and are operating at 130 per cent of their installed capacity. These airports are under a record Rs 38,000-crore capex but the capacity will not come up before end-2023, says a Crisil report.

“With the dip in traffic growth largely behind, we expect congestion at the top four airports of New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, which handle more than half of the load, to continue till about FY23,” says the report.

Already these airports are operating at over 130 percent of installed capacity, and the ongoing healthy traffic growth this operating rate is expected to rise further in the next 12 months.

“Operationalising of capacities in the following two fiscals will bring down utilisation levels albeit still high at over 90 per cent by fiscal 2023 and that is despite an unprecedented Rs 38,000 crore capex being undertaken by the operators of these airports over five fiscals 2020-24,” says the report.

Despite this unprecedented capex that is debt-funded, ratings are likely to be stable given the strong cash flows expected due to healthy traffic growth, low project risks associated with the capex and improving regulatory environment, notes the report.

“Capacity at these four airports will increase a cumulative 65 per cent to 228 million annually (from 138 million now) by fiscal 2023. However, traffic is expected to grow strong at up to 10 per cent per annum over the same period. Since additional capacities will become operational in phases only by fiscal 2023, high passenger growth will add to congestion till then,” warn the report.

High utilisation will ride on pent-up demand (accumulated in 2019 as traffic was impacted with the grounding of Jet Airways) and one-off issues with new aircraft of certain airlines.

Further impetus will also come from improving connectivity to lower-tier cities and reducing fare difference between air and rail. Increasing footfalls at airports provide a leg-up to non-aero streams such as advertising, rentals, food and beverage and parking, which comprise around half of the revenue of airports already.

These are expected to grow strongly at over 10-12 per cent, also supported by higher monetisation avenue coming along with current capex. The other half of revenue (aero revenue) is an entitlement approved by the regulator, providing a pre-determined, fixed return over the asset base and a pass-through of costs.

Aero revenue is also expected to get a bump up during fiscals 2022-24, when a new tariff order for airports is likely. Overall aggregate cash flows are likely to double by fiscal 2024 and provide a healthy cushion against servicing of debt contracted for capex, the report concludes.

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